White Rock’s namesake has been painted black.
Sometime between Friday and Saturday (Sept. 25-26), about a quarter of the white rock on West Beach was spray-painted.
The vandalism included the slogan “Black Lives Matter.”
Contacted Monday, White Rock Coun. Scott Kristjanson said while he supports the Black Lives Matter movement, he doesn’t support defacing public property.
“Defacing the white rock certainly doesn’t give them any favours,” Kristjanson said. “There’s better ways to get your message across.”
Kristjanson made note of the significance the white rock has to Semiahmoo First Nation.
“It’s just going to cost us money to get cleaned up,” he said.
Kristjanson said the city is “seriously thinking” about putting the rock, which is painted white, back to its natural state with a clear coat.
“I think it would be nice to get rid of all that paint, myself,” Kristjanson said. “It’s a beautiful piece of granite. If we got it back to granite and put up a sign saying what it represents to Semiahmoo First Nation, that would be stellar.”
Contacted Monday, a representative of SFN said they do not wish to comment at the moment.
It marks the second time, that Peace Arch News was made aware of, that the rock was targeted by vandals since last July.
SEE ALSO: White Rock namesake sullied with anti-police graffiti
Earlier this year, the rock was marred with graffiti described as having a “strong anti-police sentiment.”
White Rock RCMP told PAN Sunday that police did receive a report regarding the vandalism, and has notified the city.
PAN has reached out to the City of White Rock for comment.
